Chapter XXIII: Another Jewel Won for Christ

"Old Grandfather, you are early this morning at your worship." Thus Mrs. Lü addressed an old man who was earnestly worshipping at a shrine she was passing. Her heart went out in compassion for the old man, who was nearing the end of life's journey without God and without hope. So she addressed him kindly, hoping she would be able to point him to Christ. The old man was hard of hearing. After having finished his worship, he slowly turned round and looked at her, and again she repeated her greeting. "You are early at your worship, old Grandfather. You are very earnest about it."

"Well may I be in earnest," he replied, "for herein my only hope lies. I am an old man, without kith or kin, without anybody to care for my soul when I die."

"But you are wasting your money on worshipping these false gods, and you are spending your energy in vain. I know of a better way."

"A better way! What might that be? I never heard of any better way. And as I have no sons or grandsons, I must look out for myself. I do not need my money. I have buried my wife and my children. Now I have been preparing for my own burial. For twelve years my grave has been made and is well lined with bricks. My coffin is in my house waiting for me. I have prepared many boxes full of paper clothes, and many thousand paper dollars to be burned for me when I am gone, for I do not want to go hungry and naked into the next world."

"But all these things will be of no use to you in the next world. The priests are deceiving you. You ought to come and worship God."

"You say I ought to worship God. I do worship heaven. We all ought to worship heaven and earth."

"I do not want you to worship heaven, but the Creator of heaven and earth. There is no God beside Him."

"But I have not seen Him. I do not know Him."

"No, you cannot see Him, for He is a Spirit; but He sees you, and He supplies your need every day by sending the rain and sunshine when needed. And better still, He will forgive your sins. He is the only one who can forgive sins."

"The only way to get your sins forgiven is to do good deeds, and accumulate as much merit as possible."

"That way, too, is false. You know I was a vegetarian for many years."

"Yes, I remember you when you lived in my native village, in my relatives' home, and when your first husband was ill. Ah, you were a strict vegetarian then!"

"That is true, but God taught me the better way, and now I am serving Him. There is no need for me to lay up merit for myself, for I trust in the atoning Blood of Christ and stand upon His merit. Indeed, I have merited only condemnation, but God in His infinite grace has forgiven all."

"The doctrine you preach is good, and it is quite true, but I am too old to obtain such happiness as you speak of."

"No, you are not too old--the Lord Jesus wants you to come to Him. And the older you are the more important it is for you to believe quickly, so that you may escape the sufferings in the next world."

"I should like to do that, but I do not understand. What am I to do?"

"If you will come to see me in my own home, I will tell you more about Jesus and His teaching."

With that invitation, Mrs. Lü left the old man, but she began to pray for him and for his salvation. She realized that it would not be easy for his darkened mind to understand the good news she had been telling him, and yet she felt that he would be saved. A few days later, old Grandfather Hsü appeared in her home. He had been thinking about the strange doctrine, and wanted to know more. Gladly Mrs. Lü explained the way of salvation to him, and pointed him to the Crucified and Risen Saviour.

The next Sunday he came to the services, and it did not take him long to find out that he had at last come upon that which would satisfy his heart, and for which he had been longing in vain for many years. The old man, who had been bowing down to wood and stone for eighty years, was brought into touch with the Living God, who soon became a bright reality to him. He who had done his utmost to prepare himself for the world to come, learned to rejoice in the eternal inheritance laid up for him in heaven. His faith was so simple that it gave no room for doubt or reasoning. Like a child who, weary with chasing the shadows, nestles down to rest in his mother's arms, so old Grandfather Hsü turned from his weary search and vain strivings after peace, and pillowed his head on the loving breast of his Saviour, and there his heart found rest.

A year later he was baptized, being then eighty-one years old. How our hearts rejoiced when we looked upon his shining face and listened to his bright testimony. Some months before his baptism we asked him, "Grandfather Hsü, what about your boxes of clothes and all your paper money?"

"Oh, these false things are burnt. I fetched them down from the loft and made a bonfire of them."

"Were you not sorry to see them burnt, seeing that you had prepared them so carefully, and had spent a lot of money on them?"

"Oh no, I do not need them now, for Jesus has prepared all for me. When I die there is nothing left for others to do but to lower the coffin already prepared, and complete the grave. Some one will do that for me. My heart is at peace. I have nothing to be anxious about, but am just quietly waiting till the Lord Jesus calls me Home."

And so he kept on waiting till he was eighty-three years old, without a shadow of doubt darkening his simple, child-like faith in the Lord. One Sunday he gathered as usual with the Lord's people at the little chapel at Kucheng, and only bade them good-bye after the afternoon meeting. No one thought that Grandfather Hsü had been amongst them for the last time in this world. The next morning he was found dead in his bed, with a happy smile on his face. Evidently there had been no pain. Death had been a messenger from God, calling him Home, and not the "king of terrors." Could the Lord have dealt more kindly with the old man, who would have had none to lovingly care for him had he passed through a long illness? Quickly and gently he had been lifted up into the Everlasting Arms. There was joy in Heaven, for another priceless and precious jewel had been brought into the King's Treasure Chamber. "They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels."